Television Viewing Round-Up – June 2006

June saw a mixed month for the terrestrial broadcasters, as the World Cup ushered in increased viewing shares for both BBC One and ITV1, whilst BBC Two and Five suffered viewing slides.

The World Cup generated an rise in viewing for both BBC One and ITV1 during June, with BBC increasing its share to almost 25%, and ITV1 up to 20.5%. ITV1 had the most watched match of June with Sweden v England bringing a peak adult viewing of 17.9 million to the channel (see England Score With Biggest World Cup Viewing Figures).

Channel 4 had a very good month, considering the World Cup was in full effect for most of the month, seeing an increase of 0.7% points, taking the broadcaster’s share to 11%. Big Brother will have aided the channel, as it was often the most watched programme in its slot (see Big Brother Eviction Brings In Viewers).

BBC Two and Five both saw dips in their share of 1.8% points and 1.3% points respectively, as the terrestrial broadcasters struggled to compete with World Cup and Big Brother dominance.

In digital homes, a similar pattern played out, with BBC One and ITV1 both seeing impressive increases in share. BBC One increased by 3.1% points and ITV1 increased by 2.4% points.

The main casualty was multichannel viewing, which saw its share of viewing fall by over 4.5% points to just 38.6%.

Meanwhile, BBC Two and Five both saw their share fall by around 1% point each.

BBC1 continued to be the most popular terrestrial channel in both Sky and Freeview homes during June, with 20% of viewing in Sky homes and nearly 27% in Freeview homes.

Multichannel meanwhile continued to take the lion’s share of viewing in both Sky and Freeview homes due to the extra channel choice available.

BARB: www.barb.co.uk